


At World's End

by TheLonelyCritic



Category: His Dark Materials (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Late Night Writing, Lyra Belacqua (mentioned only), One Shot, Toxic couple, but i wanted to be fancy so..., but the bloody deserve each other, they don't deserve Lyra, tug of war should be the actual title
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24884374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLonelyCritic/pseuds/TheLonelyCritic
Summary: They were a lust-infested couple all too consumed by the sinful pleasure brought upon by dust that coated their skin to value the seedling of love that slowly grew in their hearts for one another and their daughter.//Inspired by evocatiio's tumblr post = 'concept: Marisa arrives whilst Asriel is still in his lab'
Relationships: Lord Asriel/Marisa Coulter
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	At World's End

**Author's Note:**

> Late Night + Boredom + Ambience = Spontaneous Masriel One Shot

Nesse mundo de loucuras | In this world of madness

Me perco entre tantas figuras | I get lost among so many figures

Fantasiadas, descartadas, descartáveis | Costumed, discarded, disposable

Mas isso só não me sustenta | But it just doesn't support me

Estudo os teus sinais | Study your signs

Sedenta desfrutando dessa insana liberdade | Thirsty enjoying this insane freedom

Silêncio no ambiente | Silence in the environment

A brasa fresca queima quente | The fresh ember burns hot 

-

Brasa (piano version): Jade Baraldo 

* * *

“You have a visitor, sir.” Thorold announced as he moved further into the laboratory. “It’s -”

“I know who it is, Thorold.” Asriel sighed, taking off the spectacles that he’d been using to study an array of photograms. Looking up to meet Thorold’s cautious gaze, Asriel noticed the man fidget on the spot. Clearly his manservant doubted his deduction skills but after the arrival of the unexpected duo early this evening, only one other person could arrive unannounced.

“Bring her up.”

Thorold didn’t argue. “Yes sir,” he offered with a nod as he turned and headed down the metal stairs. Asriel tried to busy himself with his work again as a means to distract himself from the conversation that ensued down below, muffled by the wood between them. It was no use. Asriel’s ears were attuned to the heavy sound of heeled boots against metal as she ascended up the stairs, her calm breathing as her movements stilled once she reached the landing. And there, in the patience of the late hours, they resumed their too long discontinued game. 

A tug of war of affection. 

A game where each player wondered who would pull who into yielding first.

“You’re alone?” Asriel made an effort to keep his eyes on the aurora before him, detailed in little glass frames. He willed the aura of disinterest to radiate off him towards his guest as so to dampen his rapidly growing internal desires.

“Not for long.” He’d be lying if he said he’d forgotten the sound of her voice but he had forgotten how deeply he loved to hear it. The melodic beauty of it, being so expressive… “Father MacPhail has begrudgingly trusted me to subdue the situation here” …. so unique …. “with the least amount of force necessary.” So distinctly that of Marisa.

“I see.” Asriel was filing the photograms into a box where all his other work that he had compiled since his imprisonment was. He’d have no use for them where he was going.

“You don’t seem surprised to see me here?” Marisa observed as she crossed the landing towards the window. Asriel smirked to himself as he peeked her oiled boots as she walked. Heels in the snow. Marisa would forever never fall short of iconic.

He stood up from his chair to casually rest on the wall behind him, his arms crossed as he examined her. “After the evening I’ve had, little could surprise me,” he assured her. 

“Is that so?” 

But her thoughts weren’t in her words, instead she was focused on the scribbles on the glass pane. Blue eyes darting back and forth as she soaked in all the knowledge in front of her. His knowledge, might he point out. It was only then that Asriel saw her golden monkey, no doubt it had spent the last few minutes inspecting the rest of the floor they were on. Asriel always found her ability to separate from her daemon jarring, providing her with an unfair advantage in their already complicated and competitive relationship. He could even admit that he would have been intimidated was his daemon not the magnificent snow leopard she was. Stelmaria as of now was hiding behind a few boxes near his feet in an attempt to obscure herself from the golden monkey. It seemed the pair of them were playing a game of their own as well, albeit a more lighthearted one.

“What’s this?” Asriel’s eyes flicked from the daemon to its human. “These numbers suggest some kind of energy release.” Her hands ghosted over the white ink before her features widened in understanding. She finally turned to face him. “This is dust.”

The anbaric sensation of the moment could not go unremarked on. Both of them had dreamed of this moment, postulated several scenarios in which they would meet and share this sacred moment. The locking of blue eyes. The rush of suppressed emotions. But this was still a game of tug of war and both of them were pulling their side of the rope with equal force.

He let out a low chuckle. “Well done, Marisa.” She was bathed in the unnatural light from the skies, her skin alternating between varying shades of green, blue and purple. And behind that outwardly beauty was a greater gem which was currently working away as she tried to figure out what he was up to. Suddenly, he felt a deep thirst. There was nothing he found sexier than an intelligent woman, especially one who matched him. He licked his lips and she didn’t miss it.

“You're going up the mountain, aren’t you?” She was taking graceful strides towards him, following in the footsteps of her daemon who had by now located Stelmaria and was in the depths of her thick fur. But instead of joining him by the wall as her daemon had done, Marisa stopped short of the desk scanning for any further clues. However, Asriel knew her too well and that’s why those photograms sat neatly in a box. So he let her continue on her futile hunt in silence, keenly watching as she fingered a couple of notebooks and toyed with a few instruments before spying a half-filled rucksack at the edge of the table.

“Packing light. No doubt you’ve prepared something up there?” she smiled at him. “What is it?”

“Now why would I tell you that?” he questioned, relaxing his arms to rest at his sides.

She slumped into the chair he’d once been seated on. “One, I’m going to find out one way or the other. Two, it’d be better for both of us if it was the easy way and not the hard way.”

“I’m not afraid of the Magisterium.” Asriel assured with a growl.

“Oh I know. You’ve made that quite clear,” she replied with a gesture to the heretical research that surrounded them. “Quite clear. Even turned your white-furred guards into your protectors. How…” she smirked at him and he mirrored her with a smirk of his own, “I would love to know but that’s a question for another time. Right now, what matters is what you were planning to carry out at that peak top.”

“ _ Were _ ?” he stressed.

“As I’ve said, there will be others joining us soon.” 

She winced as she felt Stelmaria apply pressure to her daemon’s tail with the base of her paw.

“You think you can stop me, Marisa?”

He hissed as he felt the golden monkey’s clawed fingers dig in Stelmaria’s flesh.

“Frankly if you don’t tell me, you leave me with no choice.”

They studied each other’s faces, both a mask of stubbornness making it a shock when the pair of them relented, after drawn out seconds, at the same time. Each daemon dropping their aggressive stances to fall back into a gentler embrace.

Asriel placed his arms on the table so as to lean into her personal space, light humour dancing in his voice once he finally spoke.

“A new Republic of Heaven. That’s the end goal at least. The first step is much simpler.” She arched an eyebrow at him in anticipation. “I’m creating a door to another world and what I need is -'' Asriel was interrupted mid-sentence as light feet hurriedly bounded up the stairs.

“Lord Asriel. Lyra was wondering if you have any spare -”

The words stilled on Roger’s tongue as his eyes shifted from a frustrated Asriel to the woman who had turned in the chair to face him. Her devilish blue eyes widened at his words and Roger couldn’t help the petrified scream that escaped his lips as he was yet again face to face with the tormentor of his nightmares.

“Lyra!” Roger screamed as he dashed back down the stairs towards the bathroom, nearly tripping over Salcilia on the way.

“She’s here?” Marisa whispered as she turned back to Asriel, her face pale with shock. Or fear. Maybe anguish. 

He couldn’t tell.

“She’s in the bathroom down below taking a soak,” he affirmed with a sigh.

At that Marisa stood up, ready to move in the direction that Roger had gone only to be stopped by Asriel’s firm grip on her wrist.

“Don’t.” he whispered.

“Unhand me, Asriel.” Marisa’s words were venomous. He tugged on her wrist harder, forcing her to spin in his arms in order to free her hand from his hold, unwittingly finding herself inches away from him. He had pulled. She had yielded. Nothing else needed to be said as lips collided in a furious passion. Their fusion was feral. The bursting of a high-pressured container of sexual tension that had been involuntarily stewing for years on end; its lid tightened by antagonism that rooted from their differing ideologies. But as Asriel slammed Marisa unto the wooden wall he’d been resting on not so long ago, it was evident that the pair were more similar than either would ever admit. Hands dipping into gaps in clothing in search of skin-on-skin contact. Heat and warmth. They were a lust-infested couple all too consumed by the sinful pleasure brought upon by dust that coated their skin to value the seedling of love that slowly grew in their hearts for one another and their daughter.

Yet, Marisa proved to be the stronger of the two again, breaking the kiss off first.

“Lyra,” she panted onto his face, her heart-rate evening out with each thirsty breath. 

Asriel didn’t even acknowledge what she’d said; his lips falling back to hers to resume their familiar battle of the tongues. But she didn’t respond and with an irritated scowl painting his face he leaned back to look at her. Her focus had settled behind him, locked on the descending stairs that led to what was left of her heart. Asriel moved his arms from inside the depths of her fur coat to the wall, trapping her in her current position. Her eyes flicked back to his, an icy glare boring into him.

“Let me go, Asriel.”

“There’s no one coming, isn’t it?” His voice wasn’t proud at catching her in her bluff (she could never truly lie to him anyways), instead it held a cold indifference. They could hear scuffling and hushed speech below them and it was sure to be Roger and Lyra preparing to flee. The golden monkey made a move to walk towards the stairs only for Stelmaria to grasp his tail within her jaws, the monkey now howling out in pain and frustration as Stelmaria dragged him into a nook.

“I said let me go.” Her tone was wavering, no longer stern but almost, if it was even possible, desperately vulnerable.

This was his chance.

Asriel seized Marisa’s chin within his hand, banging her head on the wall hard enough to elicit a hiss from her. “You’ve defected, haven’t you? That’s the only reason you’d be here all alone. You’ve risked it all for Lyra knowing she would be here. A child who curses the very air you breathe and the very ground you walk on.” Her eyes were shimmering now, her countenance displaying a clear fight to keep those unwanted tears at bay. He had her where he wanted and so he ploughed on. “She told me she had run away from you. Twice. That she couldn’t stand being your daughter and that it was easier to run away from that reality than to face it head on. I bet she preferred it more when she thought you were dead. When we were both dead to her. No absentee father and murderous mother. Just Lyra, the loner. Asriel, the asshole. And Marisa, the madwoman.”

They heard the main door slam shut and with that, Asriel freed Marisa to watch her slide down the wall and slump onto the floor. 

They were gone.

Lyra was gone.

“It’s just us now,” Asriel continued, walking towards the window. His daemon had released the golden monkey and was now calming him down with warm licks across his furred face. But Asriel could feel Marisa and her daemon teething with anger at their weakness, at how they always melted in their presence. However, the feeling would subside. It always did.

“It’s just us now.” Marisa repeated as she rose from her position on the floor a few minutes later and walked towards him, her heels producing a reverberating echo of heavy feet in the still laboratory. She stopped behind him, her arms snaking around his waist as she rested her head on his shoulder, joining him to stare into the vast winter that lay beyond the window.

“You were about to tell me what you needed for your venture,” she stated. “What was it?”

Asriel turned slightly so he could see her. She looked serene. Like she’d mentally freed herself from the beliefs that bonded her and now she was willing to take life whatever form it came. He’d pulled. She’d yielded. He’d won the game of tug of war. Today, at least, which was a victory in itself.

“I need a child.”

“A child?” she asked slightly amused, her eyes rolling up to face him. “Just one?” 

Asriel nodded and Marisa let out a sweet laughter soured by evil intent.

“Why, you should have told me sooner. Children, after all, are my specialty.”

**Author's Note:**

> What’s worse than one child murderer? 
> 
> Two.
> 
> This might be too OOC for the both of them but I don’t care. Just imagine if this was how things played out, they would have really wrecked havoc in every world they entered together. A tear for what could've been please. (ToT)


End file.
